Nausėda says Russia may let drones enter Baltic and Polish territory

President Gitanas Nausėda told LRT that drone incidents in Europe were another Kremlin attempt to punish countries supporting Ukraine. He said Russia might deliberately allow drones to stray from their course and enter the territory of the Baltic states or Poland.

“Russia’s behaviour is becoming increasingly aggressive,” Nausėda said. He added that the growing number of incidents reflected a trend in which Russia sought to target the strongest supporters of Ukraine while avoiding direct confrontation with NATO.

According to the president, Russia could carry out such incidents in various, mostly disguised ways. The recent downing of a drone was not necessarily a direct Russian attack against NATO, he said, adding that Russia was probably not prepared for or interested in such a confrontation at this stage.

However, Nausėda said Russia could intentionally allow a drone to deviate from its course and enter the territory of Lithuania, another Baltic state or Poland in order to keep societies tense. “There is no doubt that this is beneficial to Russia,” he said.